~by Eileen O’Shanassy~
Business owners often believe they have themselves completely covered when it comes to the safety and security of their employees and property. Yet, as you can see below, your business might not be as protected as you think. Make sure you are prepared for anything by keeping your company up to date with these ideas.
1. Bank Deposit Runs
Criminals are always coming up with new methods to steal deposit bags. For example, many business owners monitor company vehicles with tracking devices and a lot of people use phone apps that automatically update their locations to social media. Criminals now use these systems to track deposit run routes so they can carjack victims. When running a cash deposit to your bank, turn off tracking systems and use different routes or invest in an armored vehicle and guard protection service.
2. Theft by Employees
Employee theft happens so frequently that most business owners recognize this risk. That said, you might not have heard about these two methods: A thief at a cash register swipes a customer’s credit card through a dummy reader designed to collect card data. A thief at an office “accidentally” takes home a small amount of office supplies, such as a pen, eraser, one or two rubber bands or paper clips, every day. Keep yourself updated on new methods of theft and make sure you are always putting methods in place to prevent it from happening.
3. Employee Social Posts
Monitoring employee social posts is a critical business security measure because social media makes it incredibly easy for employees to accidentally reveal private business information to the masses. Additionally, monitoring helps you learn if an employee is doing anything that can damage your reputation by association, such as posting hate speech. You don’t have to become an overlord, just make sure employees know what’s expected of them and have a clear guideline for how to act on social media when talking about the company.
4. Online Business Reviews
Since negative reviews damage reputations offline and online, it is important you monitor and address these types of reviews regularly. Some businesses also post false negative reviews to damage their competitors. By regularly looking for legitimate and false complaints, you can attempt to protect yourself by responding to them appropriately online, over the phone, via postal mail, or through a lawyer.
5. Personal Injury Claims
A lawsuit might involve a physical injury that happened after someone fell or emotional distress related to the sale of a product that a customer finds offensive. You have to be prepared for these kinds of situations. Invest in general liability business insurance to help cover the costs of dealing with these and other claims. And make sure you know the stages of a personal injury case so you can know what to expect.
Your business can never be 100 percent protected against natural and man-made events. That said, you can reduce the risk by making changes in the above areas today.
Meet the Author: Eileen O’Shanassy
Eileen O’Shanassy is a freelance writer and blogger based out of Flagstaff, AZ. She writes on a variety of topics and loves to research and write. She enjoys baking, biking and kayaking. Check her out on Twitter @eileenoshanassy.
